


Figuring Our Way Through It All

by Shawn30



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Angst, Bendemption, Devoted Reylo, Drama & Romance, F/M, Force Bond Shenanigans, Learning to trust, Passion, Passionate Sex, Rey with a plan, Smut, talking things out
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-19
Updated: 2019-12-19
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:01:51
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,393
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21864904
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shawn30/pseuds/Shawn30
Summary: Rey could raise his temperature like no other. The feelings she reawakened in him were vast with intense proportions. With venom lacing his tone, Ben questioned, "And what exactly awaits me in the Resistance? Utter hatred? A lifetime in prison? A death sentence? My mother’s unconditional forgiveness after killing the only man she ever loved?"Rey erased all distance between them. She advanced as if ready to attack and met his ire head-on. "You'll never get a free pass for all the horrible things you have done. Some people will never forgive you and that is their right. You own that!" she emphasized. "But for the sake of your future you could use your influence and abilities for good to begin to redeem yourself. To fight for people that don't have anyone to fight for them. You can try and undo so much of the pain you have caused for the rest of your life. Maybe then you'll rediscover a piece of your soul by helping people even if they hate you.""And you would have your mother's love as it has never faded." Summoning her courage, she stared into his eyes and dared him to misinterpret what she was aboutto say. "And me."
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Rey, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Reylo
Comments: 16
Kudos: 242





	Figuring Our Way Through It All

**Author's Note:**

> With TROS upon us, let us Reylo fans never forget we were right from the start, are fully canon in every form of Star Wars media, nationally recognized, and sure that Reylo are in love based on the movie. None of our time enjoying, creating for, rooting for, or cheering them on was in vain. The movie will be what it will be, but Reylo fans will keep writing, creating videos, producing fan art, discussing, ect - and we will enjoy it all.

Title: Finding Our Way Through It All  
Written by: Shawn30

Ship: Reylo  
Category: Drama/Romance/Passion/Angst  
Rating: MA

Timeline/Spoilers: The story picks up 14 Months post "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" AU after that.

Authors Notes: If you like your Reylo romantic, angsty, and sexy then here you go. Enjoy.

******

“The thing is and I know this is going to sound strange - that I seem to love you sort of desperately.”  
\- L.J. Smith

“Time was passing like a hand waving from a train I wanted to be on. I hope you never have to think about anything as much as I think about you.”  
\- Jonathan Safran Foer 

“Darkness is a desperate heart.”  
\- Mecha Constantine 

******

The planet "Neus-7"  
Located in the Outer Rim  
A territory controlled by the Hutt Clans

Rey cursed at the sudden outburst of lightening that streaked across the dark night sky, which caused her to drop the topographic hand-held display she was holding in the wet dirt. Smacking her fist down in anger, she scowled while lying flat on a hoverboard beneath the Falcon's damaged right sublight engine. Three standard hours into her repair work the thunder storm began to rage with a torrential rainfall. 

The Last Jedi did not appreciate the interruption in the least. There was serious work to be done and this storm was an uninvited guest at the end of a very long day.

It was the rain season on the small Outer Rim world of Neus-7. Considered worthless by the Hutt Clans as it lacked anything resembling profitable resources; a couple of backdoor trades and unsavory promised favors with the vast criminal organization who thankfully held no love for the First Order led the desperate Resistance to this uninhabited green world. It provided fresh air, hundreds of miles of lush forest terrain, and a massive ocean that covered the uncivilized planetscape. Damp and uncomfortably humid best described the daily weather patterns, but the freedom fighters were making the best of it. It was a long sought after safe refuge far enough away from the First Order's considerable reach. A place for the Resistance to regroup and plan as over the course of the last standard year their numbers and starships began swelling in ranks. 

Once more the Resistance was seen as the beacon of hope the galaxy desperately needed.

Rolling onto her side on the hoverboard, Rey reached through the Force with an outstretched hand, effortlessly calling the dripping device back to her fingertips. A couple of quick swipes from a nearby towel removed small strips of muddy wet grass from the display screen. Now she was ready to resume her recalibration  
scans. Puddles began plinking over the Falcon's exterior as thunder rumbled in the distance. Sparing a glance out from under the ship, the sky was tar-black, with large clouds moving ominously. 

Honestly, Rey didn't care at all. The only weather she had ever faced on Jakku was extreme heat during the day and cold at night. Weather was an annoyance at best in her eyes. She was too emotionally wired tonight to get any real rest anyway, and with a very important recruitment mission in two days’ time she needed the Falcon operating at peak performance again.

Or as close to it as the legendary old freighter could muster.

Sliding a pair of protective goggles back down her forehead, she grabbed a laser cutter and began burning her way through a rusted transparisteel plate. Sparks flickered wildly about as the rainfall came so fast the sound blurred into one long, whirring noise. Ignoring the aching in her wrists, she was pleased when the thick offending plate finally hit the ground with a thud. Sliding the hand-held display up, she watched the glowing red outline scan over the engine's internal architecture, locating the breaks in the fuel cells, non-functioning power panels, and frayed wiring that caused acceleration dysfunction. 

"Kriff!" Rey cursed quietly at it all. Working on her ship now - cosigned by Chewbacca himself, was therapeutic for the young Jedi. It engaged the inner engineer that she continued to grow into, all while taking her mind off of the multitude of things she had no control over - with the powerful yearnings of her conflicted heart being chief among them.

Pushing the rainstorm from her mind, Rey reached above her and ripped a small square panel off the last two of its four rusted hinges, revealing a mass of burned out wiring cables and a key-pad missing several buttons. All that she could do was bow her head in frustration. This was even worse than she expected to find. "I don't know how Han and Chewie even kept you flying for as long as they did," she muttered to herself as she mentally plotted in what order to tackle the multitude of issues she found. 

Having a variety spare parts on the ground nearby, using the Force was a great help when she didn't have to constantly reach for things. As she rewired this and rerouted that while installing new bundled cables for future upkeep, the unkind ravages of time were never more apparent to her. She sighed, simply peering into the starship's aging infrastructure, noting Han's incredible ingenuity and pure luck had kept this ship flying if she were honest - the fastest hunk of junk of the galaxy was in desperate need of a complete overhaul. Yet the Resistance had no time to spare. 

So Rey did what Rey does best. No matter how hopeless something seemed, she found a way to make it work. Usually because she had no other choice. Desperation was her standard operating procedure.

Another hour flew by as she rested her head back on the hoverboard, tools by her side. Her hands and wrists were throbbing and her lower back wasn't exactly happy either, but she was making progress. As pearls of moisture cascaded off the edges of the ship, Rey paused. The soothing scent of fresh rainfall filled her nostrils as she breathed in and then slowly exhaled. With the storm finally fading into twilight with droplets tapping a gentle tattoo on the Falcon's roof, her traitorous thoughts turned back to Ben. To what he might be doing right now. And even if he were thinking of her. Try as she did to force him to remain the evil Supreme Leader Kylo Ren in her head, they had shared far too much in the last four months for that to stick. 

They had recently crossed a line Rey wasn't sure she wanted to come back from, even if deep down she knew that she should. That the more emotionally entangled they became, the harder it would be to ever find her way back. The deeper she delved into the Jedi and Sith lore, the more complex her thoughts and feelings on the Force became as there was just no black and white way to deal with it all. Everything was a shade of grey as every action had a certain point of  
view attached to it. Specifically the horrific damnation the Dark Side of the Force drowned its followers in provided new insight into who Kylo Ren was and who Ben was slowly becoming again. 

Ben Solo. 

Stretching her legs out, Rey allowed herself a quiet moment to just listen to the rain fall. She begrudgingly accepted that Ben was in her bloodstream now, coursing out of control through her veins, and she liked it far more than she cared to admit. Try as she did to the contrary, he was never far from her thoughts. Especially not since that night on...

And then Rey felt it. A familiar vibrant hum through the Force, slowly amplifying in strength that signaled a powerful bond forming through the ether. The sensation raised the hairs on the back of her neck, causing her heart to race ever so faster in anticipation. In longing. In fear of what he truly meant to her. 

Sitting up on the hoverboard, she swung her legs just off the side, now in a seated position near the back of the Falcon. Unconsciously, she brushed her hair back with her hand and hated that she even thought to do that. 

Ben created such conflict within her.

Rey squinted, but not even the ultra-bright docking lights could pierce the endless black of night. As if appearing from thin air, Ben emerged from that very darkness. The irony was not lost on her, nor was the sincere hope that it was symbolic as he walked toward her with a confident stride. He bent down as he rounded a low-hanging section due to his height. Clad in silky black sleepwear, with a long-sleeved button down shirt with three undone, he looked all too comfortable. All too handsome. Sexy. Unruly. He peered about, noticing the rain cascading off the edges of the Falcon as the docking port lamps illuminated the ground with a pale, bluish tint.

"Why are you wasting your time on this horrid piece of junk?"

As always, Rey could feel his heated gaze fall over her. The enticing warmth of his full attention added yet another new wrinkle to the complexity of their... whatever it was that they were engaged in these days. He liked watching her, and she wasn't put off by the knowledge. A part of her craved it probably a little more than she knew was sane. "I'll remind you that this horrid piece of junk is the most legendary starship in the galaxy, and it belongs to me now. The responsibility of its legacy is mine alone and I take great pride in it." 

Rey watched him edge ever closer, as if he had a sharp retort on the tip of his tongue but thought better of granting it freedom. Instead of invading her personal space, he settled back against one of the broad landing gear plates and crossed his arms. He made no effort to shield his thoughts as he was pleased to see her. "How goes ruling the galaxy?" she asked with just shy of a sarcastic flourish.

His eyes drank in the beloved sight of her, and even though she appeared a bit disheveled and pissed at him, she was far, far too beautiful. Achingly so. It grated his nerves that she stirred his soul with ease. "The First Order has officially abolished slavery, and I am working on granting each world the ability to elect its own regional governor. They would report directly to my office with feedback on the needs of their homeworld. In addition, I am closing two thousand military outposts, lifting decade-old financial sanctions, and forgiving debts that will allow for more free-trade space routes. That should help aid the economies of some of the most war-torn worlds." He tried not to say this as if he were fishing for compliments or an acknowledgment that he was attempting to shift the First Order's extreme hardline approach to something less brutal. 

Rey was not outwardly moved. "The First Order is monstrous, Ben."

He sighed, "I am trying, Rey."

He was and she knew it. Felt it. Felt the shift within him that drew her ever closer. Dangerously closer. She does not hide nor fear his access to her inner thoughts. They are free before him and he does not take this for granted. He was more measured now in how they communicate. A bit more thoughtful. A bit less guarded. "You are," she rewards him in a quiet tone, nearly smiling but not quite. "But there is still so much more that you could do."

He attempts to mute his sudden frustration. Strikes down that old spike of anger he's battled all his life. "Everything must be done in moderation. Change cannot happen so fast. These things take time and careful planning. Manipulation of events. Manipulation of key people."

She knows that. Despite her youth the understanding was far from being over her head. But she longs for this war to end so that she can see if her longing for him  
can end. Instead of wanting him, she could simply have... 

"I heard that."

Firing her attention anywhere but at the devilish smirk he's wearing - the fact that he's wearing such unguarded emotion at all is only something she's grown used to since 'The Event' as she coined it in her head. This new Ben, nearly a year and a half removed from Snoke's dark influence, was slowly evolving. Said evolution was taking up residence in her heart despite the protests of her head. "You heard nothing." Her tone of voice carried a far too playful tease, and yet he moved no closer. The bond hummed powerfully between them, as if it would never break unless they willed it too. As she's grown more powerful in the Force, so has the strength of their bond. 

It was as utterly terrifying as it was thrilling.

Rey watched him push off the landing gear, but edge no closer to her. She did not frown at the distance nor take it as a slight. He wants to be near her and she can feel it. It is no secret he attempts to hide from her. This is the game they play. He bent down and then peered inside the entry point she made on the Falcon's sublight engine, inspecting her work. She's defensive before he even says a word. "She'll fly rings around anything you have."

Ben doesn’t reply, but was ever in awe of her high level of intelligence and technical ability given her limited education. She was a self-taught marvel, on her way to being an utterly brilliant starship engineer. Clever. Forward-thinking. A natural like his Father was. "Rey, you need thousands and thousands of credits for replacement, a new ion core, several new exhaust ports, and a complete overhaul of the internal wiring system. That's before you get into the converter that looks like it could overheat at any time. This ship is a death trap."

Her tone was clipped to say the least. "I'll manage."

"With what?" Ben retorted with a beat of menace. "All the Resistance has is hope and hope is not a strategy."

Rey's jaw ticked with restraint. "I said I'll manage."

"You don't need to manage," he argued loudly before he could stop himself, his tone clipped. "I would give you anything you wanted. You'd need only ask."

The switch from flirty banter to brutal honesty was flipped before she could stop herself. "Fine. Leave the First Order tonight. Steal a ship and send me your coordinates. Then I'll pick you up." As soon as the words fled her mouth she regretted them as they revealed far too much, and yet the very real hurt that spiked within him revealed it’s equal. "You did say you would give me anything I wanted."

Ben paused for a long moment, exhaling deeply as his gaze fell to the dirt. "It would be far easier if you simply came to me."

"No!" she snapped at him. And then she explained with a mini-explosion, "Look, me going to you means I am joining Kylo Ren and the First Order. And I will never, ever do that. But you coming to me means Ben Solo will be at my side. And I'm willing to admit that has some appeal to me." 

Rey could raise his temperature like no other. The feelings she reawakened in him were vast with intense proportions. With venom lacing his tone, Ben questioned, "And what exactly awaits me in the Resistance? Utter hatred? A lifetime in prison? A death sentence? My mother’s unconditional forgiveness after killing the only man she ever loved?"

Rey erased all distance between them. She advanced as if ready to attack and met his ire head-on. "You'll never get a free pass for all the horrible things you have done. Some people will never forgive you and that is their right. You own that!" she emphasized. "But for the sake of your future you could use your influence and abilities for good to begin to redeem yourself. To fight for people that don't have anyone to fight for them. You can try and undo so much of the pain you have caused for the rest of your life. Maybe then you'll rediscover a piece of your soul by helping people even if they hate you." 

"And you would have your mother's love as it has never faded." Summoning her courage, she stared into his eyes and dared him to misinterpret what she was about  
to say. "And me." 

That was really all that mattered to him, and yet he still turned his back on her. There were times when it seemed as if the entire galaxy was against them, and she hated that because privately she knew exactly what she wanted. Even with the very likely angry reaction from her friends and the Resistance, she accepted after their night together on Kronos... And then she whispered in a nearly hypnotic voice, "The entire galaxy kneels at your feet. I can't imagine anything compares to power like that."

Ben felt the hurt he was responsible for. The white-hot resentment she felt concerning his throne. He knew deep down that Rey was the great shift his soul would either surrender to or be destroyed by. "Do you think I value it more than you?"

"That you are not here with me now, physically, is proof of it."

Closing his eyes, Ben felt the weight of the moment fall over him. The time was now. She had laid before him the path to her. She lit the way. The damnation that swells in his soul, she kills it a little bit at a time. She has seen the worse of him and risked her life with no promise or guarantee that her courage would be rewarded. Snoke gave him nothing at all. Ben took his title and empire and made it all his own. But now what he wants most is this caring, courageous young woman who owns anything, everything good in him. "If I were to tell you that I love you, would you believe me?"

Blinking, Rey swallowed the emotion hard, choking it down into the darkest part of her. She glared at him, willing back tears. "If those words were your truth and you wanted to say them, and you truly meant them, then I only want to hear them when you are truly by my side. And they would be a commitment that you would never leave me, or that I would ever leave you."

Ben was annoyed at how easily she resurrected his conscious as he viewed it as a long-lost friend returned unwanted. His lips twitched at the thought. Turning to face her once more, he gazed down into her beautiful hazel eyes filled with so much warmth for him that he knew he was utterly hers. "Then that is how it will be."

Suddenly feeling a bit unsettled as they just sort of sideways admitted to being together someday, in love and never leaving - Rey took a step back and stretched her tired arms out. She felt him staring at her mouth. Felt the phantom caress of his kiss. The memory of the soft brush of his lips. Of his warm body gliding ever harder into her as she squeezed tightly around him... and then he was smirking again and she stalked off angrily to the other side of the ship. 

Distance! She needed distance! Now! Nevertheless she heard the sounds of footsteps crunching leafs behind her. "How are you doing?"

Ever curious about the mysterious strengthening of their Force Bond, Ben noted how deeper the detail was that he could see around her now. The depth of her world was growing each time they connected. The colors were more vibrant. The field of vision improved. The clarity. "You're surrounded by acres of forest. Towering treetops... Is it rain season on this world? Where are you?"

"Nice try."

Stifling a grin, he heard the sound of her smile in her voice. He wanted to know all of her smiles. Sighing, he peered over her shoulder at a huge shimmering structure hidden in the middle of the forest, with its oval top just cresting the trees. "The Resistance has constructed a Solar Dome for food cultivation. Does that mean this is a long-term base of operations?"

"Answer my question or leave."

She obviously didn't appreciate his inquires, so he changed course. He wanted to push her a little. Back her into an uncomfortable corner all his choosing. Bending to her ear, he whispered, "I miss you."

It had been eleven long grueling days since they last saw each other. A brief, quiet moment interrupted by a Resistance council meeting she had to attend at the last minute. And now with just three little words she was undone. Heart racing. Blushing. Warm. Tender. Unprepared for the depth of emotion his admission brings. He has changed so much in the last four months and she so desperately wants to trust what she sees is real. Processing and accepting this as truth had given her heart hope, but she was weary. She had to remain a bit detached. Had to guard at least part of her heart in case this all turned terrible. 

But in this very moment, Rey felt young and playful. She just didn't think every second of every minute of every hour of every day needed to be spent brooding over everything wrong in the galaxy. So she graced him with a little flirty smirk. "How much?" He blinked and then his tongue wet his bottom lip as he was clearly contemplating how much to reveal. And he had the most beautiful mouth. She mentally berated herself for staring at it.

Backing away, Ben altered course once more. Raising an arm, he let his fingers graze a jagged laser tear in the Falcon's hull until they tapered off the side. "I've spent most of my life hating this accursed ship for always taking my Father away from me. That's how I saw it as a child watching the Falcon blaze off into space. Han was ever restless... And now I realize that 'I' took my father away from me. That I alone have to live with the guilt and the shame. I truly thought it would free me. Make me stronger. More powerful. And when I proudly told Snoke of what I had done he acted as if it were nothing at all. As if my Father's death..." 

Ben felt Rey come to his side, leaning into him as the wind picked up. It was the most natural thing in the world to draw her closer, securing an arm around her slender waist. That she fit perfectly against him and knew what he needed without ever having to voice it was yet more proof whatever the future held for him, she was the most important part of it. "I have hated this ship for most of my life. Hated my parents too."

"And now?"

"... I see what role I have played in my own demise," he said grimly. "Snoke may have seduced a young, immature, angry boy with the promise of power in the Dark Side, but at every turn I didn't make good decisions. I ignored Luke's warnings. I never reached out to my parents with all the rage I was dealing with. All the loneliness... I was arrogant and selfish and I made all the wrong decisions. Luke, my parents and me - we all made some really bad mistakes. Maybe that's life," his voice trailed off in reflection. "I just know that to truly move on from Snoke's influence I have to stop blaming others for the horrors I have committed. Like you said, I own them."

Ben closed his eyes and listened to the rain fall, holding Rey ever closer to his side. No matter the magic of what was happening between them, he was never far removed from the reality of his dark deeds. "I have killed, Rey. I have been a butcher. The blood on my hands is too much to ever wash away. I have turned a blind eye to suffering and used fear to control people I deemed beneath me. And I killed my own Father, who was trying to save me from myself."

Rey sensed such regret and guilt in this fractured man. Such loss. He did not feel he deserved joy or anything good. She never fooled herself that she could redeem him. Absolve him. Wish all the bad away. She only wished to show him how bright the future could be if he changed. But the work to get there was his alone to accomplish. "Suffering and tragedy are parts of being alive, Ben. So is letting go of the past. Not forgetting or pretending it didn't happen, but understanding that so long as you are alive you can choose to do better. To be a better person. That you can try to chip away at that mountain of horror a little bit at a time."

"I'm scared of how insurmountable it seems."

"One of the things that scares me the most is allowing myself to love and be loved. To trust it. To even feel worthy of it." Standing as one, they graced the rainstorm with their silence for a long beat, simply watching the windy sway of the trees. "My parents were supposed to provide me with the most conditional love that exists. They were supposed to protect me. Raise me. Take care of me. Instead, they abandoned me on a dangerous desert planet as a child. They left me with nothing. And while I have found a measure of peace for the sake of moving forward, but I have never forgiven them. They stole my ability to trust deeply away from me. And I hate that more than anything."

He understood her bitterness. Had drank enough of it in his lifetime. Their inner darkness shared so many traits. "I have never forgiven Luke."

"I don't think he ever forgave himself."

"I don't think I will ever forgive myself."

"Good."

His eyes shifted to hers with mild surprise. "Good?"

"It means you care enough to know that the things you did were wrong. Look Ben, there are no perfect answers. There's no time machine to fix all the wrongs that either happened to us or we're responsible for. But we have today. Now. To simply do better. To be better. To try."

As her sincere words took up residence in his heart, he reached for her small hand. It quivered when they touched. As their fingers laced, joining them as one as the Force hummed powerfully in approval. The intense emotion that lived between them was positively electric. With his other hand he brushed a loose strand of her hair from her face, softly tucking it behind her ear as the corner of her mouth curled into a sweet little grin. Unexpected, unfamiliar affection for her swelled in his chest. It was a sensation he was slowly becoming used too. 

Addicted too.

Reveling in their closeness, Rey hoped she wasn't blushing as a light breeze felt almost cool after days of endless ugly humidity. "Despite my age I am very wise."

Ben bent to her ear, whispering, "And very beautiful."

His dark hair lies silky and curly, barely kissing his shoulders with a roguish charm - and she desired to comb her fingers through it endlessly. "Are you trying to compliment me to the Darkside?" He is openly, lustfully leering at her mouth as her lips part ever so in invitation.

Ben denies himself what he desperately craves to express a truth he isn't sure won't doom them. "... I don't think I could ever fully return to the Light. To the Jedi Way."

Shifting her position at his side so that she could accurately read the expression he wore, her hand slowly rose to trail a soft caress down the jagged scar she gave him. His head slowly bowed to his touch. The reawakening wind-blown rain was picking up in speed again, but she couldn't bring herself to care. There was a soft tremble to her voice when she admitted, "I want you just as you are." 

With that, Ben gently cradled Rey's face in his hands and captured her mouth, kissing her deeply. With the rain pouring around them, the sweet, welcoming warmth of her tongue slipped into his mouth to curl around his own. Hungry, passionate kissing led to his arms hauling her tight to his chest - while his tongue glided along hers until he began to gently suck on it. And the sinful moan that escaped her thickened his cock that very second. 

Kissing her was absolutely divine.

The atmosphere was intoxicating, the synergy between them positively electric. As he held her petite body nearly off the ground, plundering her sweet mouth, drinking her in as if she were the most delicious thing he had ever tasted. Because she was. 

Lost in the moment, Rey hummed softly in his mouth when his strong hands lowered to her backside, squeezing her ass hard, drawing her ever closer. Her fingers tangled in his hair at last, claiming a handful as his cock throbbed against her belly. Slick arousal pooled between her thighs as she held him so tightly.

"You... you have consumed me," he gasped into her mouth, drowning in the pleasure of how good what he said made her feel. They were the perfect mix of temptation. The Dark and the Light that they could no longer resist each other as their mouths worked greedily at each other with a voracious hunger. "I feel there is no escape from this."

When their lips parted she rested her forehead against his chest, panting - holding onto him tightly. "I have bewitched you," she whispered softly. 

"You have cursed me with this ache to possess you forever."

"... I don't entirely dislike how you phrased that." He snickered quietly, as close to a laugh as she had ever heard. When she lifted her hand to his chest she could feel the hard pounding of his heart beneath her palm. "So how about you just hop on one of the dozens and dozens of starships on your Capitol cruiser, fly off, and meet me somewhere to surrender peacefully."

"I have already surrendered to you," he declared, having bared his heart. She lifted her gaze to his.

"I'm being serious."

"So am I." And yet when she shifts in his arms he knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that the moment is lost. A distance, cold and nuanced, settled between them. He reluctantly relinquished his hold, hating the loss of her already as she slowly backed off, moving to the section of the Falcon she was working on. Her mood felt as if their kiss had never happened at all. He suddenly felt hollow. So did she.

Gritting his teeth, Ben knew what she wanted. She had done nothing to shield herself. She has never had anything to hide because she was ashamed of no choice that she had ever made. She is her truth. Unapologetically so. All while there were ugly days when he questioned did he deserve to still be alive when he had cruelly killed so many. Had butchered without conscious or reason in the name of his all-consuming dark ambition. He choked it down, the self-hatred. Pushed it away. Crushed it. Compartmentalized the emotion. The path to her - to them, was what mattered most. 

Above the returning heavy rainfall, Rey half-shouted, "Do you know what I see for myself after the war?"

Her question exploded in his chest like a thermal detonator. Fear coiled there, frigid and lonely, ready to strike at any moment. To syphon that which he clings to most dear. In truth only she and his mother could truly hurt him. But no one like Rey. He had never granted anyone that sort of power over him before. Certainly not of his own free will. "What do you envision?"

Clipping a small flashlight on a hook inside the engine block, the light illuminated her target. "Me searching the stars for Force-sensitives, and then choosing a world to build a new Jedi Temple. A safe, secure place where I can continue my studies and teach the next generation of Jedi in the ways of the Force," she explained while unscrewing a cracked power coupling. And then she began installing its replacement. "The mandate of the Jedi has always been to be the Keepers of the Peace. The Republic relied on them for centuries in that role. And the New Republic that will rise will need them again. I want to be part of that. I 'will' be part of that."

Conviction in its purest form. She left no room for debate. She set the table without a seat for him, knowing full well his distaste, to put to mildly, of the Jedi Order. She just didn't possess the ability to let go, and he knew that would always be an issue between them. But she had never let go of her belief in him either. The irony was not lost on him. "Why resurrect the past? They were utterly destroyed."

"The demise of the Jedi Order doesn't devalue their thousands of years of service to the Republic, or all the brave souls who gave their life to defend it. As Master Luke wrote in one of his journals; perhaps the Jedi Order became too full of their own ego and bravado to believe they could ever be defeated because at one time they utterly destroyed the Sith Empire. These things tend to happen in cycles, Ben. But I want my life to stand for something good. I didn't ask for my connection to the Force, but I feel it’s there for a reason. The legacy of the Jedi is mine to uphold and rebuild. To change for the better with an eye towards the future. The Jedi Order will rise again. I know that this is my calling. I know my place in all of this."

After coiling new thermal temperature wraps around the power cells, she returned from her work to find Ben staring off into the forest ahead. She studied him for a long, private moment. Traced every hard angle of his face for even a hint of softness. He was not classically handsome or pretty, and yet she found him irresistibly good looking nonetheless. She loved his mouth and secretly, the scar she marked him with. Danger and passion lived in his dark eyes. So did rage. And an endless well of pain she felt drawn to, even as she knew that probably wasn't the healthiest thing to feel. 

Yet Rey knew that she loved every single broken piece of Ben Solo. He possessed a brooding, yet commanding presence. A compelling dark confidence and even, from a certain point of view, an innocence. He had felt severely isolated at a very young, impressionable age - just like she did. He could see through every single emotional wall she had ever erected to protect herself because they matched his own. He knew her as no one ever had before. And he was powerfully built and crazy tall, which kind of turned her on.

"So you think my height is sexy?"

Blushing wildly, Rey looked away. Gritting her teeth at how easily he could read her, his own amorous thoughts betrayed him. Rey fired a mock of a glare. "You think of me being tiny as sexy. And for the record, I am not tiny. I am height-challenged."

He battled a smile with all his might. "You are shorter than most."

"And you fear I am going to leave you behind."

"I fear nothing because I believe nothing is out of my ability to change," fled his mouth with a grim, indomitable purpose. The mere notion that he, the Supreme Leader of the First Order, unquestioned rule of the galaxy, feared anything - and yet quietly the lie was revealed. Losing her now sat at the top of a very, very short  
list. "Your future doesn't seem to leave much room for... anything else."

"You mean you?"

His gaze narrowed. "You're being difficult."

Ben could be petulant at times. Patience was required in all dealings with him. "Ben, look at me," she asked softly. He angled into her personal space, towering as ever. But she felt his cold fear of abandonment and knew it all to well as it was a twin of her own. She reached for him, taking one of his hands between hers. "What do you envision when this is all over?"

Her question took up residence in his soul, both meaningful and terrifying. The framework of a plan had begun months ago concerning the direction he wanted to take the First Order towards. He was actively consolidating an alliance of supporters throughout the Order while earmarking his enemies. But a true and final end game... one where he made it out alive... he didn't have the heart to hope for what he knew deep down that he didn't deserve. As thunder rumbled in the distance, he answered, "To have it all end. The War. The First Order and the Resistance. The Jedi and the Sith. To start over, somehow."

Rey watched his guarded gaze fall upon the way she was holding his hand. "While I don't agree with the Jedi part, I do share that same dream. I want to be part of building a New Republic that restores freedom and justice throughout the galaxy. And I want to locate and offer Force-sensitives a chance to learn how to use their abilities after the War. To train the next generation of Jedi the right way. And while I have an idea of what I want to do, I don't have a grand design on how to do it. I have so much to learn about the Force for many years to come. I am as much a student as I am an architect of what is to come. I am simply going to try."

As gusts of wind whistled about, she boldly added, "And I would like you to try with me."

Dominating the First Order from Snoke's throne was always Kylo Ren's master plan. The throne of the galaxy was his inevitable birthright. He would succeed in replacing his Master, moving past Vader's failure to do so against his own and rule a new all-powerful Sith Empire. But this beautiful, daring, courageous, utterly infuriating young woman has laid waste to all that he was sure was his destiny. She has doused his dreams in roaring flames, replacing them with her own. Her unrecognizable dreams... Kylo Ren burned in that fire as well. There was truly only Ben now. 

Unable to tear his eyes away from her, intensity radiated from him. He was quiet for an extended pause before he finally spoke. "... same ship?"

The fragile tenor of his voice made her gently squeeze his hand. Rey nodded to the Falcon, a small smile curling her lips. "Same ship."

"Same Jedi Order?"

"No. Better. Retooled. Modern. Mindful but not shackled to the past. Forward thinking. Well-trained and prepared as best we can."

Covering her small hands with his own, he tenderly pulled them to his chest and staring into her eyes. "Same bed?"

"No." She sent an infuriatingly mysterious smile up at him.

"Excuse me?"

"My current bed is far too small for you. I'll need to get us something bigger, which might include expanding the room itself." Had she ever seen anyone fighting a smile more than Ben did at this exact moment? She was sure of her answer. 

Ben swallowed hard, deep in the back of his throat. "I've never met a dreamless sleep."

"Then it pleases me to be the first." Rain began to pour heavily once more as they stood together, truly united against to all. "I'm in need of a partner and co-pilot. When your role as the Supreme Leader ends, you'll be in need of a new job. You in?"

For the longest he simply stared at her. Accepted what was his past and what his future could become. He didn't deserve her or how this made him feel, and yet she has chosen him and his heart is utterly lost to her, always. "Yeah... yeah, I'm in."

Setting their half-banter half-serious talk aside, she walked into his arms and settled warmly against his chest for a long moment. Settled into the strength of his embrace. She shut her eyes, listening to the sound of his heartbeat and the pouring rain relax her. "We're going to figure this all out, Ben. It won't be easy. It'll likely be our life’s work. We'll take it one day at a time."

Before he even realizes he had done it, Ben pressed a hard kiss to Rey's forehead. "I'm not going to be... I ... It's going to take me a very long time to find any sort of peace, and my life is disastrous right now. And I will need to, at some point, face my mother. How we feel about each other is not a fix for all that I have done. I have committed atrocities that I have to atone for in whatever way that I can."

"So what you are saying is we're still a long-term very difficult work in progress?"

"That's quite simplified."

"Doesn’t make it any less true," she replied. "If you think I have it all figured out then you don't know me very well. I'm flying by the seat of my pants. I haven't scratched the surface of everything I will need to know. And you know me better than anyone. So what we'll do is help each other and take it one day at a time. Deal?" 

"You have a deal," he replied, simply lost in her.

"Good. Now I'm going to bed." 

Extracting herself from his arms, Rey began backing towards the Falcon's boarding ramp, and then turned to walk up to the top. He watched her at the bottom of the landing ramp, a memory not lost on either of them came to mind. Where they were then and where they are now.

Rey's gaze darkened, tempting his thoughts with carnal whispers of all that she desired. "You coming?"

******

They barely made it to her bed, stumbling wildly through the Falcon's interior, knocking down a tool chest, past the main cargo hold, and down a dimly-lit winding corridor that fed into a duo of small living compartments. When Rey angled them to the left, Ben's shoulder banged hard into the door, causing it to rattle loudly as they kissed hungrily. 

The sliding door to her sleeping quarters simply splintered forward from its compartment, shattering to the permacrete floor. Neither knew if the other were responsible. Neither cared. Nothing was going to stand in their way. They kissed passionately into her bedroom, forgoing the lights as they navigated the darkness. And while Ben's clothes simply faded into nothingness, he tore Rey from hers, ripping whatever offending fabric refused to leave her body quick enough until she was naked in his arms.

Finally in his arms. 

Their Force bond's hum in the ether was absolutely deafening.

Emotionally tangled in each other’s thoughts, Ben drew Rey into an urgent, fiery kiss as they fell upon her small unmade bed. A hissing gasp escaped her lips when he kissed his way down to her breasts, suckling each taut nipple deeply until her nails dug into his shoulders at the sweet pressure. At the delicious heat. The pleasure of him inhaling the sensitive tips curled her toes. His tongue traced the gentle slope of her breast before swirling all over, and then his teeth trapped a pebbled peak, biting it. Arching her back, the husky moan she rewarded him with left his cock pulsing against her sheets. 

"Have to taste you," Ben growled as he slowly kissed his way down her trembling belly, his tongue dipping ever so softly into her navel for a breath just before he spread her legs wide. Her sharp intake of air met his ravenous stare as it feasted upon the most beautiful little pink rose he had ever seen, glistening with her arousal. His lust-filled gaze lifted from between her spread thighs, desperate with hunger for her. "You're exquisite."

A carnal wave of anxious euphoria swept over her at the sight of his head, all that thick gorgeous dark hair descending between her thighs. Rey was mute, lost in the moment. Lost in him. No man had ever done this to her before and he hadn't their first time. There had been no time. But now she was overcome not only by the anticipation, but by the sheer depth of his desire to possess her. 

With heavy rainfall loudly pelting a nearby window, Rey sucked in a breath and closed her eyes the moment she felt the warmth of his breath fan over her weeping slit. Her thighs trembled as she watched him inhale her scent. Hot sensation sent shivers through her torso, and then her face twisted in rapture when the soft flat of his tongue drug up her nether lips, softly parting them, and then swirled twice over her swollen clit that sent pleasurable tingles racing through her. And then his tongue glided down, and then slowly back up, and then down again to her entrance before delving deep inside.

"Ahh..." Rey cried out at not only the length of his tongue, but how he was able to fuck her with it. Pushing it into her while holding her slender hips in place, trapping her where he wanted. Shaky hands took hold of the crown of his head, tunneling into all that lush black hair, with strands escaping between her fingers as she guided him exactly where she wanted. The animalistic sounds he made while sucking on her made her hips quiver as she submitted to his devouring her with his tongue.

"No one else will 'Ever' taste you but me!" Ben grunted possessively from between her thighs, loving the way they closed tightly around his head as he sucked and nibbled on her. She was so wet for him, glistening and delicious, quivering against the firm lashes of his tongue as he feasted. The seductive feel of her fingers combing through his scalp as she held him down was an incredible turn on. Beneath her, his hands filled with the sweet roundness of her firm ass, trapping her to his lust. Instinctively she tried getting away, twisting about as she whimpered and moaned his name. He pushed his tongue at her sensitive clit, teasing it to stiffness, and then swirled round and round until her legs were shaking for him. She took a fistful of his hair, grinding into his mouth as he lapped at her with long firm strokes that left her crying out in pleasure. 

"Ben, please," she half-begged in a noise wrapped around a moan, jerking against that warm suckling mouth making love to her. He wouldn't let her get away. Wouldn't release her pulsing clit from his mouth, drawing around it until her back arched high as she cried out, fisting his hair. Goosebumps rose across the back of her neck as her eyes strained shut, the sensations cresting higher - and then he thrusted two fingers deep inside her to the knuckle.

Rey screamed as he pumped them hard and fast, deep, dancing with the rumbling explosion of her sudden climax. Her hips jerked sideways as the utter bliss crashed over her in, the dual sensation of being filled so fast and his mouth sucking her clit roared in pleasurable waves of ecstasy. Try as she did to escape the sensations, he trapped her, lapping at her with long gentle strokes while fucking her until she shoved him away because it was all too much. 

Shivering mightily, her teeth bared, eyes strained shut, Rey caught her breath on her side as she recovered from the aftershocks of an incredible orgasm. Her mind was in a warm lazy place of bliss as she slowly came back to herself at last.

Breathing warmly against her inner thigh, Ben desperately fought an evil grin while caressing the softness of her skin. She had been so responsive. So delicious. Literally dripping from his lips now. His 'Rey' was flushed all over, all because of what he had done to her - the male pride swelling within him was momentous. The erotic scent of her swirled in the air, while he committed the memory of the sated smile she wore as the single most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

And then he heard a breathy comment through their Force-bond while pressing a little kiss over her hip. "You can't kill explicit HoloVids."

Humming softly like a woman who had just enjoyed a tremendously satisfying orgasm, Rey snuggled deeper into the warm sheets and laughed that he heard her desire to kill whatever woman taught him that particular oral skill through their bond. "Nice try. I peeked into your past only so far as I dared. You were not a virgin."

He playfully bit the inside of her thigh, causing her to squeak. "Neither were you."

"But my lovers can be counted on one finger. And he was hardly memorable, not that I knew anything either."

"And mine, two. All at Luke's accursed Jedi Academy. None bore enough interest to repeat."

"... and I still hate them both." The husky rumble of a muffled noise that sounded almost like amusement left her feeling so good. It felt amazing how deeply, profoundly he wanted only her. And it seemed he liked her just a little bit jealous. "Hate, Hate, Hate," she playfully declared while staring down into his eyes.

"Hate?" Ben repeated quietly. "You're already on your path to the Dark Side, Rey." 

"Only in your dreams, Ben."

Pressing a final soft kiss to her glistening slit, he peered up from between her legs wearing a feral expression. "Tell me about the one."

Denying him was her favorite activity as he was often so commanding. Demanding. Casting her gaze skyward, Rey cutely focused on the slightly cracked ceiling as the rainfall outside grew  
louder. Quietly, she replied, "Only when you are mine."

Without hesitation, Ben declared, "I am, Rey."

"What deal did we make a short time ago?" she said, and then reminded him through their bond of what he could not say nor promise until they were physically in front of each other again. And what monumental thing it  
meant if he did. "After that, you will be mi..."

Ben rose faster than she thought a man his size could move, deftly covering her body and her mouth with his before she could finish what she was going to say. On instinct, her arms circled possessively around his neck, fusing them as they began kissing furiously. Passionately. Mercy, how she loved the heat of his skin and the heavy weight of him pressing her down into the mattress. It didn't matter that the bed was barely big enough for one. It was enough that they were together. 

Grinding his cock over her glistening center, Ben kissed her hard as the tip of him pressed to her entrance. He slowly pushed inside, spreading her delicious heat around him like a second skin. The room melted as they flowed into each other. The sheer hardness of his cock was thrilling to her as she clenched around him with muscles slowly remembering what they were meant to do. Their kiss broke on a husky groan, and the sight of her nibbling her bottom lip was nearly his undoing. Her expression was caught between bliss and disbelief as he was so much man, stretching her cunt around him. Her eyes were darker as he gave her that last thick inch that parted her pretty mouth on a sexy little gasp, baring her teeth. 

A low moan escaped her throat as she gripped a fistful of his hair while twitching and squeezing around him. And then his hips began to pump. "Ahh... ahhh... ahhh, Ben..."

"Mine!" he swore upon death with a heavy growl, his knees digging into the mattress for leverage as he began fucking Rey deep and hard, pounding her into the small bed - all with the knowledge that 'his' Rey seemed to like it on the edge of rough, which only made him love her more. Each time he pulled back, dragging her inner muscles with him, her body seemed to will him back inside. He fed her his length with long, smooth strokes as her ankles locked over his lower back, trapping him to her. But the hard snap of his hips left her whimpering softly as he claimed what was his! 

His kiss silenced her lustful cries of pleasure as they fucked all over the small bed. His thrusts took a vengeful rhythm that she found herself craving. Her small living space filled with deep groans and satisfying grunts as the echo of flesh banged throughout. Rey's nails clawed across his back, eliciting a sharp grunt from him as his hips slammed into hers. Her gasps and sighs melded with the obscene noise of their intense fucking as Ben vigorously surged between her thighs, burying himself deep as they kissed with a violent hunger.

Rocking his hips powerfully into her as the bed shook, Ben pressed his forehead to hers, staring into her eyes. "You're mine! Say it!"

Defiant to the last, Rey shook her head, now biting at the side of his neck, marking him even as the bed squeaked nonstop from their hard fucking. He was so damn big and she was so small and it was just fucking perfect how well they fit together. She felt his cock slick with her wetness, his face now buried in the crook of her neck, marking her skin as he was sucking passionately. She cupped the back of his head with one hand, and his ass with the other. It clenched in her palm with each deep thrust as they rocked over the bed. She felt so full of him, as if she couldn’t take anymore... her mind reeling from the pleasure, flying in a storm of ecstasy. "I own me," she moaned as his teeth bit into her neck.

"Rey," Ben groaned while snapping his hips into her. Watching the sensual expressions twist over her lovely face, he wanted her always. Nibbling, sucking her ear lobe, he ordered, "Say it!"

"No... no," she defied him once more even as her hips moved in perfect rhythm with his. As lightning flashes illuminated the small bedroom, she felt him pulsing wildly inside of her. Felt the raw power of his thrusts rattle the bed, and the need for him to come inside of her was overwhelming. To feel that final intimate completion. Being Force-bond synced this way was incredible. As her sex closed tightly around his deep thrusts, the feeling of being taken - desperately possessed, was intoxicating. 

Skin sweaty hot, the scent of them dominated the air as they frantically made love. 

"Rey..."

"I'm... I'm so close..."

"Please, Rey." Ben sucked a nipple into his mouth, drawing deeply over the peak as she moaned in pleasure. "Say it!"

Later she would swear on a stack of Jedi Texts it was not the vastly shockingly unexpected endearment that sent her over the edge. But she would be lying as a series of deep, husky moans of pleasure signaled her wildly  
violent climax. "I'm yours!" she shouted into the crook his neck before sucking the skin hard over his scar, her sex squeezing around him in rhythmic, milking waves. Her eyes slammed shut as she came so hard all over his cock, bathing it in warm liquid heat. Her nails dug into his muscular back, clawing at his skin. "Yours!" she cried out one last time as his thrusts lost all rhythm, and with a guttural roar his cock swelled, surged deep, and then erupted in thick warm bursts of seed as every muscle in his body tensed powerfully over her. Her face contorted in a silent cry as she clenched around him tight, draining him in her, willing every last drop of his essence as it all belonged to her. 

A short time later silence reigned, with only the soft pitter-patter of rainfall playing in the background. They were a tangled mess of sweaty skin and sated hearts, their quiet breathing the only communication they had the strength to provide.

Rey hummed softly when Ben slowly withdrew from her, and then drew her back into his arms, spooning her skin-to-skin as they cuddled on the bed. Her legs curled around his, while his arms held her flush to his chest. When she used the Force to cover them with a small blanket, or as much of him as it would cover, she felt his amusement and it was like an early morning sunrise.

Ben liked simple things, it turned out. Not verbally. He often felt things he didn't feel comfortable saying out loud. But Rey was deeply connected to him like few had ever been connected to anyone in the history of it all. She was comforted by the knowledge that neither of them had ever experienced this depth of closeness. This level of affection. Caring. Or that other most important word that she knew was on the horizon, but would wait until they were truly together again. For now in this peaceful moment she didn't think of the multitude of issues they faced, or of the ongoing horrific war, or his daily struggle to redeem his very soul. None of those issues were solved because they were together or how they felt. 

They just needed a short time to simply be Rey and Ben. And to begin to unravel and figure out who they were together. 

Unconsciously, her fingers danced softly over his the hard muscles of his forearms. She yawned a quiet sound, sated and secure, and felt the way he treasured her presence. As the tip of her finger trailed a jagged another scar over his bicep, she felt he had far too many of those - both inside and out. His skin was a masterpiece of pain and conflict. Yet he was still so beautiful to her, and she did not hide the thought. She felt no rebuke that he did  
not reply. His way wasn't one filled with declarations. He was a man of few words, but they carried value. His heart was present and completely open to her. That was all that she wanted. "What are you thinking about?" she asked quietly.

Sighing, Ben pressed his face into the softness of her hair, breathing her in. He squeezed her tighter in his arms so that he might not waste a second of the feeling of her being there. "I wish that I were a better man," he exhaled with regret. "I wish that I knew how to do this the right way."

"This?"

"Us."

Resting back against him, basking in his body's warmth, Rey took a moment to find her voice. "... so you're ready to have 'that' talk?" 

Her words throttled through him like a bolt of lightning. The sheer audacity that he deserved companionship was senseless. He tried to mentally wall off the guilt. "Have I told you that I find the three buns in your hair utterly charming?"

Rey's mouth curved into a small smile, but she didn't let him off the hook so easy. "Changing the subject I see."

In this moment she wasn't looking for banter and he knew it. "... sorry."

Patience. All things with Ben required patience. It was a good thing she had a great abundance of it. "It's okay. Look, I have zero experience in any of this either. But given all that's against us right now I happen to think that we're doing pretty good. I mean, we haven't tried to kill each other in a very long time," she joked. 

"It's just... Rey, I come with so much history. All of it bad. Most of it self-inflicted. And you finally have people you care about in your life. Chewbacca and my Mother, who thinks the world of you. And I don't know how I will ever face them. And your other friends, they all hate me for obvious reasons. If they find out about us it could severely damage your relationship with them. And I while may not care for them, you do."

Shifting around in his arms, Rey laid her head beside his. She needed the intimacy of being so close to him. Felt the gentle warmth of his breathing upon her face. "Someday you will have to sit down with your family and have that very hard talk. And it will be what it will be. As for my friends, I will explain what I can the best way that I can and if they love me they will at least respect my choice. They don’t have to ever like it. I understand why they wouldn't. We'll just have to see. But I am not giving you up, Ben Solo."

Tenderly cupping the back of her head, Ben slanted his mouth over hers in a long, loving kiss. Pulling each other closer, their intoxicating attraction was undeniable. He left no doubt in her mind that he meant to possess her fully. That anyone could make him feel this much was devastating. Real. And when their kiss ended he actually teased, "I really do like the three buns."

Blinking, Rey giggled against the side of his face as they laid together. She held him as he held her and nothing had ever felt better in all her life. "It's a basic hairstyle. Nothing fancy. Quick to do and easy to manage."

"Beautiful, just like you." Her face shyly dipped into his neck, but he saw a light blush color her cheeks and marveled that he could ever make anyone feel anything good. That he wanted too. And that it mattered so much. He needed her in the same life-sustaining way he needed air. And while he detests needing anything as much, he found no weakness within him for needing her. "So what are you thinking about?"

"Your proposal in Snoke's throne room."

Ben arched a brow. "Proposal?"

"Ruling the galaxy at your side sounded like a proposal to me."

"I don't believe I was down on one knee."

"You were begging me to join you with tears in your eyes. You even said please. 

"And you answered by leaving me for dead."

"I did not leave you for dead," she gently reprimanded him with a poke on his side. "You told me I was nothing, and that my parents were dead, tried to take 'my' lightsaber, and refused to leave with me."

Scowling, Ben shook his head in disbelief of his fowl actions. "... for the record, those regretful things took place before the proposal."

"So you admit it was a proposal?" she smiled at him, loving how he fought his own, trying to hide his face in the sheets from her. Before she could probe this all too amusing topic further, her communicator on a nearby nightstand began beeping. 

Rey called the small device to her hand with the Force, noting the particular chime. "It’s Finn." 

Suddenly annoyed, Ben noted the older model had no identify screen. "He has his own sound?"

The beat of jealousy she felt from him was so petty. So very Ben. "Hush." After a deep breath, she flipped the small switch to open the channel. "Hey Finn. What are you doing still up?"

'My shoulder is killing me after that blaster shot I took three days ago and my pain meds are wearing off. I can't sleep so I figured I'd bother the only other person crazy enough to still be awake at this Sith hour.'

Rey found far too much amusement at Ben's sudden foul mood. That another man could contact her day or night at any time didn't sit well with him. He was oh so petty. "It began storming like crazy while I was working on the mountain of repairs my ship needs until I just couldn't keep my eyes open any longer," she yawned for effect.

'I get it. The Falcon is a never-ending project. And my head is just pounding.'

"... pounding," Rey noted a bit breathlessly when Ben reminded her through the Force of how he pounded her into the bed until she screamed that she belonged to him as she came so hard around him. She mouthed a mute 'Quiet' at him. His scowl was almost cute. "I hope you feel better soon. And I'm sure Rose is willing to take very good care of you until you do," she trailed off playfully.

Finn chuckled, and then groaned as he shifted on his bed. 'You're not going to let that go, are you?'

"You guys dated for a couple of weeks and then ended things and then started up again and then ended again. Everyone knows you two are going to end up together. You're just being difficult."

'Are you actually commenting or attempting to give me love advice, my dear Jedi spinster friend.'

"I just want to see my friends happy. And you are my best friend, so I especially want to see you happy."

'Aww, I'm blushing. And for people with my skin tone that’s not easy to do.' Her laughter eased the pain in his shoulder. 'And for the record, I want you to be happy too.' Finn paused momentarily, as if preparing. 'You know, there's this fearless, debonair, incredibly good looking as I have been told pilot who would love it if you'd just gave him the time of day. Maybe share a cafe with him?'

Ben's eyes narrowed sharply. Rey mouthed 'Poe'. He rolled his eyes in annoyance. Rey smiled, but had no intention of not toying with him. "He is quite handsome. And brave." 

'And he thinks you're spectacular. And a great pilot. He respects you, Rey. So what do you think?'

Finn was such a good friend to try and put in a good word for Poe, but Rey wasn't interested. "While I think highly of him as well, you can tell him that his romantic interest’s best lay elsewhere." 

'Wait, so is there someone else you haven’t told me about?'

"... not in the widely understood meaning of the term."

'I don't have time for Jedi mind tricks at this late hour. But let me guess, you're still hung up on tall, dark, and evil?'

Blinking, it was Ben's turn to mouth 'You told him about me?’ in a far less violent way than she expected. 'Yes, I tell Finn everything, but not about what happened with us recently.' "Tall, dark, and incredibly conflicted who makes far too many bad choices but I still hold out a sliver of hope for his redemption someday is kind of on my radar." 

'That's a mouthful, Rey."

Feeling incredibly bold all of a sudden. Rey snaked her arm down between them as her small hand curled around Ben's oh so warm cock, giving his thick length a long lazy stroke from base to tip that made him bare his teeth in pleasure as he grew hard in her grasp. "More than a mouthful." 

'It’s an unhealthy hope as I sincerely hope a starship crashes on his head, but I trust you. And I'll let Poe know its best he move on. He'll deal. He's a good guy. Now I'm going to let you get some sleep. Night Rey.'

"Night," was all she was barely able to squeak out before Ben ripped the communicator from her hands, flicked it off, and tossed it clear across the room. It bounced off the wall and landed with an audible crack.

Rey arched an angry brow, clearly unamused. "When you finally surrender to me, you're going to have to buy me a new one."

"If you surrender to me I'll acquire you a planet."

Ben was such an infuriating force of nature in her heart. "Only you would have the audacity to say something like that," she teased before crashing her mouth over his in a violently passionate, wet kiss. He took her in his arms, drawing their bodies together. She straddled him while gently sucking on the end of his tongue, loving the way he pulsed against her - thick and ready once more. But she did not take him in hand, much to his dismay as he had reached for her hips, but was denied. His frustrated growl made her nipples tingle in amusement.

Rey's eyes flashed as they dared into his own. "My turn." 

Ben's jaw ticked as Rey pressed both her hands to his chest, pushing him down onto the bed. Bending over him, she began softly lapping her way down his chest, reveling in the joy of being able to touch him to her hearts content. She left a glistening trail over his abs as her tongue feathered ever closer to where he was dying for her to go. Through the Force she felt his intense rapture at watching her. The raw need swirling in him to have her do exactly what she was clearly about to do. She lorded her power over him, reveling in his fierce lust for her. She crawled down his body, curling herself sideways over his waist, and then finally curled her fingers around his length until she had all of him gripped in her fist. A strangled approximation of her name escaped his throat as she gazed up into his dark eyes.

"I've never done this before," she whispered innocently while gently stroking him, her wrist screwing around the base that drew a sharp hiss from the pit of his throat. He felt so warm in her hand, yet as hard as he pulsed wildly in her embrace. "I want to feel through our bond what you like. You're going to have to guide me a little," she breathed warmly over the weeping tip before lashing a clear bead of liquid arousal that saw him jerk beneath her. Feather-light, she curled her tongue round and round the tip, wringing another powerful shudder from him. A Correlian curse wrapped in a husky groan followed that. "You know, Ben. We could have been doing this all the time if you had come with me when I asked you too."

"Or if you had stayed with me," Ben gritted through clenched teeth, his undivided attention absolutely dominated by the beautiful woman lapping her way down his cock, and then back up at a lazy pace surely meant to drive  
him mad. Reaching down, his fingers softly combed through her three buns, effectively pulling them free as the silky strands cascaded down over her shoulders. Her brown hair gently fanned across his lap as her lips pursed at the crown of his cock. Rey looked up at him from beneath her lashes, wanting him to watch her as she gripped him tighter, and then turned her attention to the drop of liquid gathered at the slit. She swooped down to lap it up with the tip of her tongue, making sure to keep eye contact with him, because she knew that it turned him on. She then circled her tongue all the way around the head, bathing it slowly. 

His oh-so-sexy growl empowered her as she kept peering up at him to make sure his eyes were wide open. She wanted this image burned in his memory forever, her place anointed for all-time, sending that knowledge through their bond. She now owned the very definition of his focus. "You would have given me a throne I never wanted."

"I would have given you a kingdom you could have reshaped in any image you chose."

"I only wanted you," she whimpered before slowly taking him in her mouth, gently sucking the head.

"...Rey," Ben suddenly cried out when she took the flared crown between her lips and sank down around him, taking a bit more with each descent. The pleasure was unreal as her soft lips caressed him, her mouth swallowing deliciously around him. Her fist stroked him from root to tip as he felt through their bond the hot desire and raw possessiveness she felt for him now. Such a thrilling emotion. She strained to take all of him before surrendering to her comfort zone of so much he heard himself moaning and knew he had never sounded like that before. The perfect sensation of her warm, wet mouth surrounding him had no equal to any sensation he had ever felt before.

Ben suddenly thought of how foolish he had been to ever think the throne of the galaxy could in any way compare to her. Rey stalled for a moment as he realized she had picked up on that thought, but began to bob her head over his lap in a lazy rhythm that sucked the very air from his lungs. "So good... fuck, you're so good..."

Feeling his rapture, Rey felt a flicker of pride at being its cause. She trickled warm saliva down the side of his cock before lapping it up with loving strokes of her tongue before capturing the head once more. She graced him with deep, hungry swallows as she sucked him off, her palm twisting over the head, lashing with her tongue. The sounds he made her animalistic in nature, only amplifying her arousal. Her lips encircling the tip over and over as he groaned passionately. He tasted so good as she devoured his length, sucking harder. As his hands clawed at her bedsheets, muscles tensing beneath her, she absolutely loved the sight of it. Loved the vision of him writhing in ecstasy only she could give him.

After a short time her skill had grown so confident that he felt the head of his cock kiss the back of her throat. She found control over her breathing, and knew just how much of him she could take. His eyes rolled as she hollowed her cheeks to suck harder. The incredibly erotic sound of her pumping his cock - the lewd, wet sucking sounds devastated him as he felt the pleasure rising to an inevitable crescendo. He panted wildly, "Rey, I'm... close..."

Gently pulling off the tip, she placed a soft final kiss on the head, and then lifted an evil grin while resting her head on his inner thigh. She felt decadent. Powerful. Could easily finish him off in her mouth... "How did I do?" she asked in a breathy tone.

"Spectacular," he groaned in frustration, only to have his heart soar when she climbed over him, straddling him low. His manhood pulsed against her the heat of her center. His voice trembled, "Need you, Rey."

"I'm here," Rey's voice quivered lightly as she claimed him in her hand, raised above him until the head pressed to her slick entrance, and then slowly sank down around him. A few gentle thrusts of her hips and the pleasure of holding him inside of her was indescribable. He visibly shook beneath her as she claimed him. The husky grunt he made as she settled around him was burned into her memory forever, undeniable evidence of her power. Her knees dug into the sheets, anchoring as she began to rise and fall at a steady pace meant to drive him mad with lust. A very quiet gasp escaped her parted lips as she squeezed tightly around him, loving how hard he was. So hard, only for her. 

Through the Force she felt the primal desperation she stirred within him. The raw emotion was as tender as it was thrilling in a way she had never known before. 

Gazing into her hazel eyes with haunting intensity, Ben moaned deep in the back of his throat as she began a slow glide up and down his cock, rocking sensually over his lap in a hypnotic rhythm as the rapture of being inside her had no equal. She was beautiful beyond words, a Goddess above him, swaying lazily as she took all of him. The perfect weight of her over his lap, nothing had ever felt so exquisite. So right. The sensual bounce of her small breasts lifted his mouth to them as he sucked in a peak, drawing deeply around the tip as she clenched tightly around him. Eager fingers tangled in his hair to cup the back of his head as he suckled her, lavishing her with his tongue. 

Eyes shut, her hips rocked as he suckled her nipples, chewing on the edge of pain that left her whimpering until she pulled away. And then she bent to his mouth, capturing it with a wildly passionate kiss, her tongue tangling with  
his. And when a whimpering, sultry moan escaped him, so did her name in a worshipful tone. 

"Rey, I can't get enough of you."

Emotion wet her eyes as she found his gaze, suddenly mesmerized by the storm of love he felt for her, absolutely overflowing through their bond. She feared it. Coveted it. Shared it. Was consumed and drowned by the sheer depth of its  
meaning. The sweet warmth of his strong hands as they came to grip her slender hips felt nearly as incredible as having all of him - so much of him buried deep inside of her, thick and throbbing. Stretched. So full of him that she softly cried out his name on every descent. Her hands braced on his chest as she began to ride harder, smiling wickedly down at him. "No one else will ever have you this way," she ordered while relishing the sensation of being filled completely. Of the beautiful way he was caressing her all over. She quivered around his considerable size, all while watching the intense pleasure she was giving him being written all over his face.

"I belong 'only' to you," Ben promised in a husky tone as his hips found her rhythm, arching up into her with a perfect counter thrust that left her moaning uncontrollably. Rey brought his hands to her face and kissed them with such passion as their hips met vigorously. "Never anyone else!"

The conviction lacing his declaration made her shiver at the dear promise laid before her. She arched backwards, pumping her hips, grinding over his lap as their Force bond crackled with rising raw energy. The erotic sound of their bodies colliding filled the bed chamber. He cradled her rear in his large hands, squeezing the firm cheeks, guiding her as she rode his cock with smacking lust-filled thrusts. They were a filthy mess of sweaty skin and husky grunts, desperately aligned through their Force-bond and moving as one. She clutched at his forearms, trying to bury him deeper as strands of her hair kissed his face until he gripped the back of her head and forced her down, kissing her with such raw lust she shivered all around him, drowning in white-hot pleasure. 

"Fuck, Rey!" Ben groaned while thrusting up into her, dying over how deliciously tight she felt. Over the sight of her moving so urgently above him, riding over his lap, her face etched in a passionate grimace he would never forget.

"Kriff, you feel so good, Ben," she moaned through clenched teeth, her eyes shut, face to the ceiling as she chased her climax with grinding hips. She clenched around him, working so hard to find that elusive rhythm that would let her cum. When her eyes opened, her hair nearly matted to her face with sweat. She peered down at the man she loved. Her sinfully sore body still encasing his, possessing him. He filled her completely in every possible way, both physically and emotionally. She felt what he was feeling through their bond, loving how she was so aware of him. Felt as she rode him that the words he was not yet permitted to say were about to crest from his lips. He opened his mouth to say something but she claimed him once again in a kiss that bordered on violent, driving her tongue in his mouth as they fucked each other so hard and fast, impaling herself roughly on his cock.

Ben cradled her ass in his hands as she rested her head on his shoulder, rocking over him. Grinding and squeezing. At last her face twisted into a tight, lustful grimace. She threw her head back, her inner walls closing around him, drawing him deeper. "Cum inside me, Ben," she whimpered as she rode him. "Please, cum inside me! Now!"

He roared in response, his cock jerking wildly as he filled her with heavy bursts of warm seed, his hips pumping up into her wildly, all while crying out her name. Her cheeks flushed pink as she violently came apart around him - uttering a sharp cry as the delicious sensations burned through her, all while her sex milked his pulsing cock hungrily until he had nothing left to give. Until finally his hands gripped her still-rocking hips in sweet surrender. She fired off a sense of amusement at her carnal victory through their bond and found him smiling with his eyes closed. 

A Ben Smile was the absolute most beautiful, priceless thing in the galaxy to Rey. "All mine," she panted before collapsing bonelessly, her head now resting on his heaving chest and her arms sprawled. Sated and joyous.

"All yours," he replied while relishing in the delicious warm feel of her body lying over his. Of the rapid beat of her heart and the scent of her all over him. He had never been more satisfied in all his life.

Rey sighed happily when his strong arms came around her, cuddling her to his chest. And for the longest, most blissful time they didn't think about innumerable, complex, dark obstacles they faced during a time of war. They didn't think about anything but each other. That was what they needed right now at this very moment.

Sensing her discomfort, Ben felt her shift ever so, pulling free from him with a sigh before falling lazily back into his embrace. The warm trickle of their love making coated his thighs as she settled over him. As the driving rain continued to fall outside, pelting the windows in rivets, he closed his arms tighter around her. "You have broken me." 

"I'll put you back together, Ben. You just have to sleep in the wet spot," she teased, and loved the little chuckle, barely audible, that escaped him. She marveled at the bubble of joy that even the slightest show of true emotion from him could create. "I just thought of something," she said, raising her head from his chest to face him. She leaned into his touch when he softly brushed and tucked some of her hair behind her ear.

"And what is that?"

"You threw my communicator. You touched and interacted with something on my end of the bond. That's... that's incredible."

"It's growing stronger."

"I know," she gave a cautious nod, pondering just how it was happening. Why. A beat of dread flowed through her.

"There's something else we haven’t talked about."

The unspoken between them. Outside this protected bubble of fragile joy existed a very real galaxy that was growing ever darker. Rey traced a fingertip over his shoulder, following a long jagged scar nearly to his neck. "The Dark Side of the Force... something elusive is out there... something very powerful. A Force-signature I have never felt before."

"Neither have I. A new threat."

"Yes." Neither asked. They both felt it. Yet another obstacle in their path. Another potential war, only this time one they would face it as a united front. Together, Rey knew they could conquer anything.

After a long pause, she watched him enjoy a soft yawn, and something warm and tender swept over her. Something unguarded. Protective of him. He was still embracing her with the fullness of his arms, and was very tired. For someone who likely slept very little and far from peacefully, she understood all too well. "Rest. The bond is gently fraying. We may not have much time."

"Rey?"

"Yes," she said softly.

"The day will come where I will never let you go again."

"Even if I snore a little?"

"Even if you snore a little," he teased warmly against the shell of her ear, as they gently rearranged themselves so that he could curl behind her. Rey laid her back head over his shoulder once more, and he was drawn to press a kiss to her hairline. He could not resist. A sweet amused sound suddenly escaped her. "What is it?"

"Your feet are sticking off the bed," she noted with a little point of her finger. "It's just too small for you.""

"I'll manage."

"I'll fix this. I just need a way to ask Chewbacca and Finn how I can get a bigger bed in here and not have it sound suspicious."

"I doubt either of them would suspect your true purpose." Ben brushed a light kiss over her shoulder. "On my command ship the bed is so huge I could fit five of me in it."

"Can I steal it?"

"Ever the scavenger," he grinned before sensing a more serious shift in her mood.

"... what are we going to do, Ben?"

Ben never answered. They didn't talk anymore. There was nothing left to say in the end as sleep gently took them. He knew what she wanted, where she was going, and where he fit into her future plans. She was sure of his turn to the Light, of his feelings for her, and his sincere desire to end the First Order. As always from differing angles, they now walked the same path. The final destination being a place and time for them alone.

Now they just had to figure out a way to get there. 

******


End file.
